LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 23 May 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The New Plymouth branch of the Taranaki Liberal and Labor Federation is to br called together at an early date with a view to re-organisation. In view of the supposed outbreak of bubonie plague in Auckland, it would be well for householders in Kew Plymouth and tin- other towns of the province to see thai all rubissh is removed from under anil about their houses, and also from outbuildings and yards, and every precaution taken to have premises thoroughly cleaned. We would commend the matter, which is an important and urgent one. to the attention of the Mavois ami Councillors of the various towns, who should enforce a house-to-house inspection bv the sanitary inspectors.

II is rumored (hat Mr. (!. Hutchison, formerlv member for Patea. is to be asked i.) contest the Hawera electorate in the Opposition interests against Mr. C. )'.. Major. M.II.1!.

.Mi; Isaac. In-peetor of Technical Eilulioii. will meet the Taranaki teachers at eleven o'clock Dii Saturday morning at tlic Central School to discuss blackboaiM drawing anil kindred subjects. Mr Harelay. M.1f.1?., says that in Dunclin section 3D, block JX. (where the Government Life Insurance buildings now stand) was sold ill November, 18(14. for the sum of Cl2 10s. In less than 21 years afterwards the very Government that sold the land paid £33,500 to get it back. The funeral of the late Captain flood took place on Wednesday morning, tbe ■procession starling from the ICliot street railway station. Among the followers were many of the Taranaki's veteran settlers. The child' mourners were four sons and a son-in-law of the deceased gentleman, and (he pull-bearers were Colonel Messenger. Captain Armstrong. Captain Wilson. Captain McKcllar, and Mr. S. I'erey-Smith. The bodv was inlerred at Tc lleiiui Cemelcry.' Rev. Mr. I.lroi klchiii-l performing the burial rites.

A cupilnl adjunct to warm blankets, which, by (lie way. "White and Ron's are doing parficiilarlv well this season, are csy bed s,„ks. knitted of a verv line Scotch lingering 'these useful articles have a considerable „alc in manv pads, and While's have slocked a line of them for the winter season at .Is (Id per pair. Advt.

A penny -aved is n penny gained. Two shillings or more saved ill every ,f by dealing at •'•The Knsh" amount's t„ a considerable sum in a year. It pays von handsomely to buy your clothing (here as it is (In; cheapest Store you'll lind in Taranaki. A few prices ' that .•liould interest- yon are: Boy's overcoals Ss lid. hoy's tunic suits 8s lid. 'iov's Xnrf.dk soils from Ss (id, boy's braces from 3d, boy's odd knickers from 2s 11,1. boy's caps from fid. at the I leading clothing store. "The Kaslr'' Devon street, New Plymouth. I'..r Hroncliinl Coughs, take Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. Is Od and 2s 6d.

Captain Edwin wired at 12.54 p.m. yesterday:—Westerly strong winds to I I gale; glass fall; tides good; sea modcr- if ate; rain probable. ' -The Education Board yesterday decided to write off certain "bud debts'' in ] fees at the Stratford District High ] School, and n. resolution was passed ' calling the attention of tho headmaster , to the regulation that fees are payable in advance.

The eliimneys in Taranaki schools seem, in many cases, to have gone on strike. Some of them have for years defied the architect and sundry bricklayers, and still they smoke. The following is a specimen of the teachers' complaints: "1 am amply supplied with wood, but the chimney smokes so badly and the room becomes so hazy that I can scarcely see the children, who often get very wet and have, of course, to sit all day'without a fire. It is not going !out in the wet and cold, but having In i sit in our wet clothes that causes so ; much trouble. ... It is really piti-

ful to see the poor children's hands on such occasions." A local authority has decided to erect. if possible, a fence of a primarily expensive nature, but a fence calculated to withstand the ravages of time. A (foveriiineut oflicial of high standing relinked them, and pointed out the money could be more wisely used in other works. He thought they could run along very nieeily without a fence. A member objected, however, saving the grounds must bo protected. 'The high ollicial, with the high llights of imagination, and the gilt of rhetoric, drew upon the "lovely, beautiful gardens" ill New Plymouth for an illustration. Now he felt sure that those gardens were complete before the people bothered about a fence!' And the members) laughed heartily, without causing the eminent orator-official the slightest discomfiture, lie. ought to live in New Plymouth, and, having a garden, leave his gale open. The neighbor's cow would disillusionise him easily..

Among other records now in the keeping of Rev. T. <f. lirooke is a valuable baptism register, valuable inasmuch as it contains the record of the first Methodist, -baptisms here, their ministrations preceding general settlement. The first entry is that giving March, 1811, as the dale of the lirst baptism in the. Taranaki Methodist churches, the subjects of the service being the children of Mellaril llarrolt (generally remembered as "Dicky" Barrett), whaler. A separate section of the register contains the list of Maoris baptised in the. early days, from February, 1841, to November, ISiKi. Several hundreds of these baptisms were celebrated by Rev. Creed, before the advent of settlement. Among other wcllkuoivu clergymen the names of l!ev. ■luhn VYhiteley, liev. Turton, liev, .lolin ironside. Rev! Wm. Kirk, Rev. T. <i. Hammond, and Rev. W. tfittos appear in "onstant repetition. This register is really a historic work, a link with the past.

Truant ollicers seem to be always in trouble, particularly with parents who ;lo not send their children regularly to school. The Raupuha school committee has directed the attention of the Taranaki Munition Board to "the unsatisfactory and unreasonable manlier in which the truant inspector is carrying out his duties in issuing summonses to parents without any warning whatever, and also without making sufficient enquiries as to age of children, and particulars surrounding each case." The Board merely •■received" the communication. Parents should know—if they don't know, they will doubtless learn hy experience—that the truant inspector is not under any necessity to make enquiries or to obtain any particulars other than . those contained in the school register, and the "circumstances surrounding each case" -diouhl be stated to the teacher when applying for the certificate of exemption. Hut parents do not obtain these certificates, arid make no explanation of the absence of their children from school until the summons is issued. Then they wake up suddenly.

The Inglewood Eeeord, writing concerning Mr McNab and freehold, incidentally remarks:—lt is certainly nothing to the credit of the recent Taranaki Farmers' Union Conferfercuce that they passed the remit with reference to the West Coast leaseholders getting the freehold. These lands are not (Jnvcrnment. lands in any sense of the word, nor are they Maori lands in the sense of freehold, but are lands vested in the Public Trustee for the expr.vs purpose of making them inalienable so long as there are living representatives of the present beneficiaries. The lessees were all aware of this when they entered upon their leases, and it. is consequently no hardship wlatever for them to be continued as lessees. They took the farms on that understanding, and hundreds today would be only too glad to step into their shoes, and it nppears to us a mistake for such a body., as tin" Farmers' Union to pass remits asking for impossibilities. It cannot do anyone the slightest good, and naturally weakens the probability of attention when pleading for a possible alteration of tilings mundane."

As there is some misapprehension in certain quarters as to the manner in which the Carnegie library building contract was let, we give the following ligures, which show the position. The available money was the £2500 grant from .Mr. Andrew Carnegie, millionaire. ill' this amount £3OO was set apart for furniture and fittings, leaving £2200 for the building, iuclusivc of £IOO in architect's commission and £IOO to be paid to Mr. K. Griffiths for half-share of the brick party wall. Thus, only £2OOO was available for the actual building contract. None of the original tenders came wtihin that limit. They werej Johns and Sons £2153, J. Salt £2158, Boon Bros. £2190, Russell and Sons £2221, J. D. Smith £2205, A.Clilf £2270 J. T. Mannix £2300. K. W. Bond £2335 I'ikett and Wilkie £2390. Slight deductions were then made, not affecting the design, and the four lowest tenderers were to again submit prices. The lowest of these was that of Boon Bros., tor Clll/9 15s, and this was accepted. Ihe others were: Johns and Son £1985 J. Salt £1991, and Russell and Son C 2013. The tendering was very close, considering the amount involved.

Une of the most conscientious and popular teachers in the Taranaki Education Hoard's service has decided to seek pastures new. He is Mr H. T. PenImgton head teacher at Lepperlon, who has unsuccessfully applied lately for several better positions in Taranaki. Mr Penlingon, in his letter no the. Hoard, -tales that he has obtained the position of master at the Leestou school, Canterbury, and that "failure to procure advancement, in Taranaki has compelled me to seek it elsewhere." Mr Ponlingtou is very popular among parents ami pupils, joining in social life and the children's sports with like heartiness. Both he and Mrs Penlington will be much missed, but their host of friends will congraitulatc them on having received proration to a school in their unlive province. The Education Board on Wednesday recorded on its minutes "That the Board expresses its regret that Mr Penlington has resigned his position as a teacher under the Board, and records its recognition of the good work done by him as teacher of the Loppn-ton school during the past elc -i veirs."

Our recent analysis of 1' 1,1 ■ election figures, demonstrating tiie extent to which tile result had been ell'cctvd by Ihc No-lieon-c vole, was taken exception to in many quarters. To our mind the position as revealed by the iigurcs was remarkable and almost unanswerable, and from the lips of one of the prominent No-license workers in the town flie view taken by us has been fully eonlirnii'd. "At the No-license rally at Kltlinni on Tuesday evening,'' savs the El (ham Argus, "Air W. Gaiikruilgcr. o< New Plymouth, plainly asserted tint the No-license vote secured the return of the Opposition candidate at New Plymouth last week. His party, lie said, had taught the Government that it would not vote for any and every nv.,11 the Government might nominate. If Mr Bcllringer had been chosen as the Liberal candidate he would have licrtn returned, for Mr Okey bad secured iwothirils of the 800 votes previously fast for Mr Bellringcr. It showed that a I candidate not in sympathy willi Nolicense bad not a chance. ' Ue thought the Leader of the Opposition had got a wrinkle from the election, and probably Opposition candidates would be more sympathetic in future. Mr Okey was not a convinced No-license man, but be could be depended on to behave fairly Tell."

Woods' Great Peppermint Cure for Coughs and Colds n«v«t foils. Is (|J and 2s Gd. The Melbourne Clothing Company is showing a fine range of Men's Sweaters in white, brown, grey, bronze, dark green, etc., with either polo or roll collars. Prices, 3s lid up to 7s lid.—Adv( v

Schools ill the Tarauaki Education district will close oil Friday, 28th .luiii", for Hi:' midwinter holidays, l'e.-opcning on ].> th July. A somewhat exciting incident took place at it football match at Woodville on Saturday, when n Maori s])eelatov I suddenly rushed into a scrum with his I umbrella waving, and sought to urge his puis on In settle their opponents. Speaking on the Land Hill, Mr Barclay, M.IJ.Jt., condemning the sale of the freehold by ,lhe (State, brought Scripture to his aid by quoting Leviticus XXV., 2D. "The "land shall not ho sold for ever, for the land is Mine, and ye are strangers and sojourners with Me."

tie was a middle aged bachelor, living a few miles South of New Plymouth, and he had'all the crusty bachelors' distaste for children. Driving homewards one evening, he passed a lady walking along wifli a baby in her arms. His sense of chivalry conquered to the extent that he olfered her a ride in his trap, provided she wouldn't "do any baby t ilk." Of course, she promised, and in she got. A few hundred yards jlnul been covered when the mother began to qiic-lion the baby thus: "And does you like having a r'idy-pidy':" The horse was pulled up suddenly, and the crusty bachelor inviled his cargo out and irv "a little walky palky." And her left her lo walk. A fact.